1. Technical Field
This invention relates to electrical connectors, and more particularly to a connector which is physically programmable to connect a set of internal conductors of an electrical device to any set of a plurality of sets of different numbers of external conductors.
2. Background Art
In any of various electrical devices, the device is constructed such that the device includes a set of internal conductors which are to be connected to a set of external conductors and that while the number of internal conductors is fixed for a given model and application of the device, the number of external conductors will be more or less or the same as the number of internal conductors. Included in such devices are motors, particularly stepping motors, multiple-tap transformers, and variable-throw solenoids.
The connections between internal and external conductors may be made with or without some type of interface device. However, whether with or without employing an interface device, the making of such connections has heretofore been relatively time-consuming. Where there is no type of interface device, usually soldered connections between internal and external conductors are made directly, resulting in a mechanically unsatisfactory arrangement, particularly in motors where the connections may be exposed to moving elements of the motor or subject to vibrations or may contact other electrical elements of the motor. Furthermore, where there is provided some type of interface device, or connector, provision must be made by the manufacturer for inventorying different connectors for the different numbers of external conductors and/or relatively complicated hand-wiring of the connector must be employed. This is particularly true of stepping motors wherein connections between internal and external conductors frequently are made on an annular printed circuit board positioned at one end of the stator windings of the motor. There, the internal conductors, or magnet wires, must be hand-routed to the proper soldering pads on the printed circuit board and soldered in place. The external conductors, or lead wires, must also be brought to the proper soldering pads and soldered in place. For a typical two-phase stepping motor having eight magnet wire terminations, there typically may be four, five, six, or eight lead wires. These combinations require that a multipliticy of printed circuit boards be on hand and/or a relatively time-consuming routing of the conductors is required. The manufacture of the printed circuit boards themselves is somewhat involved, requiring the machining of special materials and chemical etching operations. Alternatively, a fixture with provision for mechanical connectors may be employed; however, such an arrangement may also require awkward routing of the wires and may make less-than-satisfactory electrical connections, since resistance could be introduced by oxidation of the connector. Also, there are limitations as to the size of wire that may be accommodated with this type of connector. In any of the above arrangements, the relatively complex routing of the wires and the changing of routings for different numbers of lead wires offers opportunity for human error and makes automated assembly difficult. In addition, the resulting motors, having individual wires as external leads, are difficult to automatically connect in other equipment.